Customized Professional Cars

By Louis C. Farah

While the classic car world will always have those pristine factory stock and original cars as the foundation of the hobby, there is a completely different segment of collectible vehicle hobby that is just as strong as ever. In fact, it is this segment that receives just as much attention at car shows and events as vintage classics get at auctions across the country.

Customized vehicles.

Custom cars have been a mainstay of enthusiasts since the early 1950’s. Race tracks across the country featuring customized Ford and Chevrolet’s in various configurations. Customizers such as George Barris were “frenching” tail-lights, modifying engines and adding bumpers, grills and other body pieces from a variety of cars to produce some pretty stunning vehicles.

As a teenager in the 1960’s, just about all of my friends in high school were modifying their cars. It didn’t take much. The standard coupe with a V-8 engine would get a four barrel carburetor, a dual exhaust system with a pair of glass pack mufflers and a set of shiny Cragar mag wheels to produce your very own hot rod. By the late 1960’s, an 8-track tape player blaring-out the latest Jimi Hendrix rocker would firming place you on the map with the babes.

Weekend nights would finds me and my friends cruising down the world famous strip known as Van Nuys Blvd., the epitome of the California car culture. Whether to see, or be seen, the San Fernando Valley thoroughfare was the place where you could rev your engine, lay a little rubber on the pavement and show off your pride and joy.

Not much as changed since those pubescent years of my high school days. My love of cars still stands as a priority in my life, and more so when it comes to professional cars. Just like the cars of yesterday, the customization that is being done to vintage hearses today very elaborate, highly detailed and just plain amazing. Even more compelling is the fact that customized hearses have found their way onto such television shows as “Pimp My Ride” and “Monster Garage”.

The purest professional car enthusiast would probably find themselves aghast over any modification of a hearse. To many funeral directors, modifying a hearse would border on blasphemy. However, most do not realize that the vast number of hearses that are customized were basket cases on their way to the crusher. Many a vintage hearse that was too far gone to be restored served as the platform of the many customized cars that we see today. Rather than lose that car forever to scrap metal, someone saved that car and reincarnated it to be back on the street and shown in all of it’s glory.

As with any modification of a car, it can be mild or a full-blown chop job that barely resembles the car’s former life. In the cast of a mild restoration, changes can be as subtle as a different paint job, lowering of the vehicle, chrome wheels or changes to the interior. The appearance of the car still shows as a hearse, albeit a non-stock looking hearse that perhaps would not be utilized for an actual funeral service.

The other end of the spectrum would be an all-out customization of a hearse. Chopping the body, a wild paint scheme and detailed interior changes takes a vehicle to a new level. The possibilities are endless, which allows a vehicle owner to exercise their freedom of self-expression. As in the case of any classic car, the owner is certainly free to do whatever they want to their car without being harassed or belittled. Although this doesn’t appear to be a problem in the conventional classic car world, it certainly is a reality in certain circles of the professional car arena.

Much has been written on website message boards, chapter newsletters and national publications regarding the disdain for anyone that would even consider modifying a hearse from it’s factory original state. Yet a number of those that find hearse modification distasteful fail to realize that the vast majority of customized hearses were, in fact, headed to the junk-yard and eventually the crusher to be turned into scrap. With vintage parts as rare as hens teeth, what does one do with a car that can’t be restored to factory original condition? They turn the car into something else.

The unusualness of a hearse is what makes the body so inviting to modify. Just about everyone has seen a classic muscle car modified in some way, shape or form. Few have seen a hearse customized in the same fashion. Perhaps the most well-known modified cars having to do with funerals are the cars used on the television series “The Munsters”.  Grandpa’s “Dragula” and Herman’s “Munster Koach” are perhaps the most famous modified funeral cars of them all. The Dragula is based on an actual casket that has been placed on a high-performance Ford chassis and a full-blown V-8 developing 400 horse-power. The car was featured on numerous episodes of the show with Al Lewis (playing the character of Grandpa on the show) behind the wheel. The Munster Koach was also the brainchild of George Barris, who at the time was know as the “customizer to the stars”. Both vehicles are currently on display at Barris Kustom City, located on Riverside Drive in North Hollywood.

Shown below is another Barris creation called the “Kargoyle”, which has been seen at many of our shows. Built using a 1967 Miller-Meteor Cadillac hearse, the car is a magnificent example of a total customization effort complete with a chopped and lowered body, side pipes, custom paint, drag strip motor, mag wheels and a fully detailed interior complete with casket. Bret Barris premiered this car at our World’s Longest Hearse Procession in 2005 and continues to display this fascinating vehicle at our shows and events.

The word “customize” means a lot of different things to different people. To some, a simple set of chrome wheels gives a completely different look to a vehicle. I attended a professional car show about ten years ago and remember seeing an absolutely beautiful and original Cadillac hearse that was on display during a Concour d’ Elegance show where the cars were being judged. The owner couldn’t afford the factory white-walled tires that came with the car, so he had a set of new white lettered tires in stalled. The chief judge of the show knocked so many points off of the car that it didn’t come close to winning a trophy, even though it was the best car in it’s class. The chief judge decided that the car was “modified”, and therefore had lost it’s historical significance. Yet I saw another hearse that had major changes in it’s interior where the owner had turned the car into a combination car from a hearse. It was definitely more modified than the disqualified hearse, yet it won a trophy! Go figure.

A number of people have asked me about display rules at PCI shows and what is allowed. PCI has no rules nor restrictions regarding the display vehicles. All cars are welcome, regardless of condition, style or modifications. What good is a professional car show if you can’t bring your professional car? I have found that most people that attend our events are eager to learn as much about these cars as possible. They shop around for parts, seek advice on restoration and realize that there aren’t a lot of people out there that own and/or know a lot about these unique vehicles. With resources as rare as they are, we should be serving as stewards for folks that are new to the hobby or are searching for much needed advice or services.

Modified professional cars are some of the most recognizable and valuable cars in the world today. Perhaps the most recognized professional cars are the Ghostbusters cars, otherwise known as Ecto-1 and Ecto-1a. Built on a 1959 Miller-Meteor Cadillac ambulance chassis, both of these cars were recently completely restored for Sony Picture by PCI member Ray Claridge, owner of Cinema Vehicle Services. Their shops in North Hollywood contain a complete vehicle restoration facility on the premises that can literally take a car down to the frame and rebuild it from the ground-up.

Are these cars modified or customized? Absolutely. Yet they still retain the looks that say “ambulance”. Regardless of how much equipment is attached to the roof and the plethora of warning lights flashing as it barrels down the street, it still has the heart of am ambulance beating inside.

There is also a segment of professional car enthusiasts that believe that any modification to a hearse is ghoulish. To me, I don’t believe that this is necessarily due to the fact that the modifications are what made the car ghoulish. The primary reason is the fact that a hearse is used as the base vehicle. It’s tough to argue that nearly everyone out there knows a hearse is designed and used to transport a dead body. The very sight of a hearse brings up the notion of death. While in normal use in the funeral industry, a hearse should be dignified and understated. After it comes out of service and lands in the hands of a car enthusiast, all bets are off. The new owner is free to do whatever they want to do.

As I stated earlier, most of the customized hearses that I have seen in the past were cars rescued from the crusher.  There was little chance that these cars would be restored back to their factory original condition. Whether rust had eaten away most of the car, or it had been picked clean for parts, the cost to restore the vehicle would have far-exceeded it’s value. Although these vehicles were not fit to be restored, they have been reincarnated into their new lives in pretty spectacular fashions. Perhaps one of my favorites is a customized hearse owned by Zach Helm, who lives in Colorado. His car was a rust bucket headed for the junkyard when he rescued it for a few bucks. Using a little ingenuity and a lot of labor, he converted the car into an armor-plated gothic assault vehicle, complete with a set of functional flame throwers coming out of the roof. Talk about an attention getter!

Although the vast majority of professional cars are stock and original, the modified segment of the hobby continues to grow. That’s a good thing. When one considers the fact that there isn’t a lot of vintage professional cars left on the road these days, preservation of any classic ambulance or hearse is of utmost importance. Buying a professional car of any type can only be expected of someone that actually appreciates these vehicles. There just aren’t that many people that actively participate in our hobby, and each time a professional car is junked or scraped, another nail goes into the proverbial coffin.

Rather than discourage people that do not share our ideas on preservation and restoration, let’s take the time to realize that they are saving that car from a certain death. Modified cars can be restored back to their original condition, but only when the time comes where the price of restoration does not exceed the ultimate value of the car. Today’s cast-off just might be tomorrow’s treasure. I would rather see a classic professional car preserved and displayed at our events than watch it crushed into little bitty pieces!

Reprinted with permission from the February 2010 Issue of the “Professional Car Collector” magazine.  The official publication of Professional Cars International.  PCI Club Information can be found HERE.

Discuss this article in our Forums HERE.

Custom Built One At A Time

By Louis C. Farah.

It’s amazing how many people look at a vintage professional car and assume that they were factory-built cars that came off of an assembly line somewhere in Detroit. It’s easy to understand why people would believe that considering the master craftsmanship that went into the construction of each car that rolled out of the doors of such well-known manufacturers as Miller, Meteor, Flxible, Superior and Eureka. That expertise and innovation becomes even more evident when we look at the smaller builders such as National, Cotner/Bevington and Seibert.

However, if one were to visit the hearse builders of today (there are no manufacturers of ambulances on a passenger car chassis in America anymore) they would definitely see an assembly line operation where standardized bodies are mated with a stripped-down Cadillac or Lincoln chassis to make a funeral car. A lot has changed in the past 30 years with the demise of the passenger car-based ambulance.

Gone are the days of custom-built bodies that made professional cars appear as if they were standard automotive bodies that were altered by the manufacturers. What most people don’t realize is the fact that those that designed and constructed these cars intentionally built these vehicles to resemble ordinary factory- build cars that the public bought themselves. The same flowing lines as those cars appearing in the showrooms of Cadillac dealers were no accident. Rather than produce a car with a strange and bulky looking style that left no doubt that this was nothing more than a ‘butcher job” on a luxury car, master craftsmen made professional cars a thing of beauty and dignity. Gone were the days of the horse and buggy. By the 1930’s, professional cars were stately and offered a high degree of integrity and prestige to the funeral director or ambulance operator.

The bodies were custom-built based on the customer’s exacting standards and specific order. These were not cookie-cutter vehicles by any means. Interior appointments, emergency lighting, sirens, casket table specifications, curtains, window treatments and virtually every part of the car was custom built from scratch depending on what the customer ordered. When one looks in the gallery at the gorgeous examples of the cars that were built by the the coachbuilders of the past, it’s easy to see why people thought these cars were built in a Cadillac factory instead of the independent professional car builders of the time. The flowing lines of the car were perfectly matched to the custom bodies that were built. Using the same chrome trim, fender styles, tail lights and other parts provided the perfect blend of design and practicality.

Unfortunately, professional cars built today (primarily hearses) are cookie cutter vehicles that no longer emulate custom- build bodies that match traditional passenger car styling of a particular year or vehicle make. For the past 30 years, manufactured bodies that have been used on a variety of chassis such as Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet are the same with little or no variance in style. The art of master craftsmen has been lost, especially with the consolidation of Eureka, Miller-Meteor, S&S and Superior under the banner of Accubuilt.

Although the professional cars of today are certainly more quality built and technologically advanced from their predecessors, the progression of design and construction has resulted in a loss of style and uniqueness that perhaps may be lost forever. You would be hard pressed to tell the difference between most professional cars, especially in determining what year a particular car is. The price of progress appears to have been the loss of uniqueness.

As far as vintage cars club are concerned, it is our responsibility as those that have chosen the field of professional cars to do our best to acquire these unique vehicles and protect their historical value. Although we certainly accept any and all professional cars in PCI, the many would agree that the most collectible cars are those from the 1930’s through the 1970’s. Believe it or not, in a mechanical sense, these are perhaps the easiest to restore and maintain. Most of the parts can be found at such auto parts outlets as Pep Boys, Trak Auto, Auto Zone and NAPA stores. If you’re looking for fuel pumps, carburetors, wiper blades, water pumps, spark plugs and other bolt-on parts, most can be purchased for under $40.

However, beware of simply buying a part for your particular year and make of vehicle. Professional cars were not built nor assembled by the chassis distributor. Cadillac did not build these cars: Miller- Meteor, Superior, Cotner/Bevington and S&S built them. There are vast differences in the suspension, braking and drive train components as compared to the everyday cars that were delivered from Detroit. That’s another reason for the camaraderie among professional car enthusiasts: Getting accurate restoration information from someone that knows your car and has been there before.

The only daunting task regarding these older cars is body work. Body parts for vehicles from the 1960’s and 1970’s are still readily available on the West Coast and Southwest areas of the country due to the low instance of rust. However, the older the car, and the closer to the East Coast that one travels, the less likely you will be able to find a rust-free fender, chrome piece or other external body part.

Master craftsmen may have built these cars, but it is now up to us to restore and maintain these special vehicles. That’s just as important in the professional car hobby as owning the car!

Reprinted with permission from the July 2009 Issue of the “Professional Car Collector” magazine.  The official publication of Professional Cars International.  PCI Club Information can be found HERE.

Discuss this article in our Forums HERE.

The classic car hobby seems to be divided into two very distinct groups of people. And while this is a fairly sweeping generalization. Take a look around at the next car show and see for yourself.

We have Trailer people and the Non-Trailer people.

You can tell just by looking at the vehicles there. Trailer people have cars that are beyond perfect. The 20 miles a year sorts of cars whose only real use is a micro trip from the garage to a local show and back. And never in bad weather. The non-trailer people have cars that are not quite perfect. Still very nice looking vehicles, but not quite possessing the better than new perfection of the pampered vehicles. I’m a Non-trailer kind of person and my coach was restored to be a driver, but I do understand where the trailer folks are coming from. Some collector vehicles really are too valuable to drive. That being said, I’m not sure that any of our vintage coaches fall into that category. We aren’t talking about Million Dollar Hemi Cuda’s or Multi-Million dollar Duesenbergs. I firmly believe that when you get a vehicle that becomes that valuable, it’s no longer really a vehicle. It’s more a piece of art, or an investment. But it’s really not a car anymore as you just can’t really drive and enjoy it as it was designed to be. That being said, we drive old ambulances and hearses and limousines. These were working vehicles when they were new. They were used when they were needed. These vehicles saw rain and horrible roads, and long drives and in some cases a good deal of abuse. And while most were well cared for because they needed to be reliable and dependable, they were not really pampered showpieces when they were new.

Anyone that has restored one of these old coaches can tell you that the fit and finish on these coaches was not always the best. The paintwork was reflective of the era in which it was built, and was usually far from perfect. And at their very core, these vehicles were just transportation. Specialized transportation to be sure, but at their core they are all just working vehicles. And before folks get upset with that, please know that I say that with a great deal of love for these cars. These coaches were built to do a very specific task. Move the injured or deceased or the wealthy. (In the case of Limousines.) These vehicles were built to do a job. They often made a statement about the owner in the process, but they were built for their utility.

Fast forward to the present day. We have collectors that love and admire these vehicles, and sometimes I wonder if, as a hobby, we are not assigning too much importance to the perceived value of these vehicles. We look at low production numbers as a sign of high value, when in fact, those two items are not always directly linked. Low production numbers do not always make a vehicle valuable. It’s the “eBay effect”. if you browse eBay, you will notice that a large number of listings use the word “RARE” in the title or the description. People think that if an item is “rare” then it will bring top dollar, so almost everything is listed as being rare these days. We have somehow been led to believe that Rare=Valuable, and that is just not always the case. Sometimes rare just means that not a lot were made. The lack of perfection that our cars were built with is a tailor made excuse to get out there and drive them and enjoy them. They were not perfect when they were new, so are we really preserving them if we are restoring them to better than new and not actually driving them? How can we say that we really appreciate these cars if all we do is display them in a static setting?

I drive my collector cars. ALL of them. I don’t even own a trailer capable of holding any of my coaches. So if I want to enjoy them and share them, I have to drive them. If I want to do an event outside my home city, I drive my coach there. Shortly after finishing the new paint job on my 1960 Ambulance, we loaded all of our stuff in the back and drove 650 miles to Denver Colorado for a show. Was it a perfect trip? Absolutely not. Less than 60 miles from home, the A/C in the ambulance stopped working. So what did we do? We rolled the windows down and kept going. This trip happened in the middle of the summer and we started in Arizona. The temperature was over 100 degrees when we left. And with the windows down at 75mph on the freeway, it wasn’t as bad as everyone thought it would be. That was an interesting trip to say the least. We encountered bad road surfaces, blowing dust, torrential rain, horrible drivers, and some pretty frightening roads in general. And we also met some of the friendliest and nicest people along the way. We realized that getting there was MORE than half of the fun. Gas stops always provided an opportunity to talk to someone about the car, and what it was and what it represented and why we collected them. To see the smiles and the wonderment as we passed folks on the freeway was just amazing. It’s an experience that I think a lot of folks in our hobby are missing out on by tucking their coaches away in trailers and hiding them on the trip there.

Of course it comes at a price. You have to learn how to fix little things that go wrong out on the road. You may have to take some parts and tools with you when you travel. You may have to suffer without your leather seats and A/C and your cup-holders and your satellite radios for a few days. You have to stop worrying about everything on the car being flawless because roads are dirty places. You can’t worry about some bug splatters on the car, or some small rock chips, or even weather. You have to be ready to be an ambassador for the hobby because you will be attracting a huge amount of attention. And you have to be willing to talk to people, because you will get questions. (And you will get the same sorts of questions at every gas stop.) But in return, I can almost guarantee that you will meet amazing people along the way. You will get a new appreciation for these vehicles and their capabilities. And most of the time, you will have a hard time wiping the smile off of your face when you arrive. These things are actually fun to drive. And isn’t that why we collect them to begin with? Isn’t the enjoyment and the fun the whole reason we collect these coaches?

Click here to discuss this in our forums.

We are pleased to announce that Motel 6 has been selected as the “Preferred Economy Lodging Partner” of Professionalcar.org.

This partnership allows us to provide a 5% discount to all Professionalcar.org members when they book a stay at any Motel 6 nationwide AND in Canada.   You can book your stay through our special Online portal, or you can print a copy of the booking page and use it upon check in at any Motel 6 you stay at.   You will need the Professionalcar.org Corporate Plus Number for the discount if you book in person, and it can be found on the special booking page.

With over 1,000 locations throughout the US and Canada there is sure to be a location where you are going.   And all Motel 6 locations offer a list of outstanding hotel amenities; Kids Stay Free, Pets Welcome, Free HBO & ESPN, Data Ports, Free Local Phone, and Free Morning Coffee!

Discounted Motel 6 reservations!

]]> http://www.professionalcar.org/motel6-706/feed 0 http://www.professionalcar.org/lasryds-692 http://www.professionalcar.org/lasryds-692#comments Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:52:51 +0000 admin http://www.professionalcar.org/?p=692

Hi there.

I’m the founder/president of the LasRyds Hearse Club which boasts and international membership of over 700 members. LasRyds started out in April 1993 as an accident if you ask me…I posted a simple webpage showcasing my personal hearses and I started receiving e-mails from people asking how they can join the club.

We are having our next annual meet “The 3rd Annual Greatest Show Unearthed” on Saturday, August 14th 2010 at the Ashbary Coffee House, 8695 S. Archer Ave., Willow Springs, IL from 10am-6pm. We JUST finished up our 2nd Annual (actually the club’s 10th annual meet, but 2nd with the Greatest Show Unearthed theme) this past Saturday at the same location.

www.lasryds.com is our website and we also have a yahoo chat group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lasryds

Both groups are free and the only club income is the sales of t-shirts and the annual meets which we charge $10/hearse and have lots of raffles.